The Nevada Democrat says he's hopeful the bill co-sponsored by Nevada's Republican Sen. Dena Heller will be passed by the upper chamber but he has no prediction on whether it will be approved by the Republican-controlled House.

A two-year budget deal reached earlier this month failed to include an extension of jobless benefits for people who have been unemployed longer than six months. About 17,000 Nevadans lost benefits when the program expired Saturday. Nationally, 1.3 million were cut off from receiving unemployment.